A man has been arrested in connection with two possibly gang-related shootings that left three men dead in Clinton Hill this month as the city grapples with a spate of violence at migrant shelters.
Jorge Said Benitez Villa was arrested and charged with two counts of murder in the second degree on July 24, days after the 26-year-old allegedly fatally shot 21-year-old Enny DeJesus Urbina Mendez and 59-year-old Francisco Fuentes Rangel outside a shelter at 29 Ryerson St.
Benitez Villa and another suspect, who has not yet been identified, allegedly pulled up outside the shelter on a moped shortly before midnight on July 21 and opened fire on the victims. Urbina Mendez, who was shot in the chest, left leg, and left shoulder, was pronounced dead at NYC Health+Hospitals Bellevue shortly after the incident.
Fuentes Rangel, who was shot in the head, initially survived and was hospitalized in critical condition, but died days later at New York Presbyterian-Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. Both victims were staying in the shelter at the time of the shooting.
The other moped rider is still on the run, police told Brooklyn Paper on July 31. The two suspects reportedly crashed into a vehicle a few blocks from the scene. Benitez Villa, who was driving, was injured and taken into custody, but remained hospitalized for his injuries days after the incident. His passenger, the alleged gunman, fled.
Police suspect the pair were involved in another shooting that occurred minutes earlier at nearby Steuben Playground. According to the New York Post, the moped riders were trailing the driver of a sedan who stopped the car, leaped out, and fatally shot 30-year-old Arturo Jose Rodriguez-Marcano, then took off. Rodriguez-Mercano is believed to have been sleeping in the park along with a number of men who had run out their 30-day stay at either the Ryerson Street shelter or the nearby Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center on Hall Street.
Officials say shootings may have been gang-related, increase security
Authorities believe the shootings may have been part of an ongoing dispute between current and former members of a Venezuelan gang, but have not confirmed it.
At a July 30 press conference, Mayor Eric Adams said NYPD leaders are “still analyzing exactly what happened” on Ryerson Street.
“It seemed like it was a dispute that spilled over into a retaliatory action, but we’re still looking at exactly what happened there,” he said.
The incidents prompted locals to rally against the two shelters, which house a combined 4,000 people. Clinton Hill residents alleged the facilities are crowded and unsafe for both shelter residents and neighbors, and have brought an uptick in crime and unrest to the area. They want the city to shrink or relocate the shelters — a prospect Adams has rejected. Barring that, they say the neighborhood and the shelter need additional resources, a sentiment echoed by local Council Member Crystal Hudson.
In the days after the shootings, City Hall dispatched extra police to the shelters and installed metal detectors at the entrance to the Hall Street shelter. Those measures were still in place as of July 31, a City Hall spokesperson told Brooklyn Paper.
Advocates say the city needs to do more
“I don’t know if people understand when you put thousands of people … in a location that they can’t do anything but sit around all day, that’s just a terrible scenario,” Adams said on July 30, emphasizing that many migrants are waiting on work permits and can’t do much until they receive them. The city will continue to push for ways to get migrants work permits, he added.
New York Immigration Coalition president Murad Awawdeh said the size of the Hall Street and Ryerson Street shelters “presents formidable challenges to ensuring the safety of all its residents,” and that the organization supports Hudson’s calls for more city resources and support to ensure migrants can access services and become independent.
“We have also been calling on the Mayor to stop warehousing vulnerable people in emergency shelters and begin moving people into permanent housing by expanding eligibility to CityFHEPS vouchers to New Yorkers regardless of immigration status, so they can truly put down roots and create self-sustaining lives here,” Awawdeh said. “The Mayor needs to stop investing in shortsighted costly non-solutions and start prioritizing community safety by investing in the resources people need to thrive.”
On July 29, violence broke out at another shooting near a migrant shelter on Randall’s Island when a man on a moped fired into a crowd of people celebrating the initial results of the Venezuelan election, striking three people and killing one.
The NYPD raided the shelter that night and confiscated 19 mopeds, 15 of which were allegedly unregistered. Officials currently believe the Monday shooting was retaliation by the victim of a gunpoint robbery.
Adams said Tuesday that a small number of shootings and other crimes have been connected with migrants in New York City, and that the shelters have been “relatively safe” given the number of people they’re housing. More than 20,000 asylum-seekers have moved through New York City since 2022, and more than 67,000 stayed in city shelters during the month of June, according to a census kept by the comptroller.
“We have to find ways, until we can get everyone employed and all get them taking an acceptable journey, to do everything that’s possible to deal with some of the aggression,” he said. “We do have a small number of people who are part of a gang…and some of them are violent. They prey on not only migrants, they prey on civilians, and we are focusing on them.”
In a statement, Hudson commended the arrest — but said the office has been calling for the Adams administration to provide more resources for “over a year.”
“The warehousing of 3,400 people on a single block, paired with the mayor’s untenable 30-60 day rule, undermines our ability to provide for people in the city’s care,” she said. “While the 88th Precinct has put additional officers on patrol in the area since the shooting, it should be noted that this horrific incident occurred while 7 officers were patrolling the area, and I remain a willing partner to the administration to come up with long-term, sustainable solutions to addressing the safety concerns of all Clinton Hill residents.”
Update 8/1/24: This story has been updated with comment from Council Member Crystal Hudson.
